Abstract #0262

Fluorine MRI-Visible Mixed-Alginate Gradient Fluorocapsules for Image-Guided Diabetes Treatment

Dian R Arifin¹, Genaro Paredes-Juarez¹, Paul de Vos², and Jeff W. M. Bulte^1,3,4,5

¹Radiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Pathology and Medical Biology, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands, ³Oncology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁴Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁵Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States

A promising treatment of auto-immune juvenile diabetes is transplantation of beta islet cells. Islets can be encapsulated inside semi-permeable microcapsules to protect them against the patients’ immune system. Low islet survival and the lack of means to monitor the implants are major issues. We employed mixed-alginate gradient (MAG) microcapsules that better support human islet viability compared to currently used microcapsules. By labeling the capsules with clinically used agent CS-1000, we created MAG fluorocapsules which appeared as hot spots in mice on ¹⁹F MRI. MAG fluorocapsules offer a drug-free means to treat diabetic patients long-term while enabling imaging of transplanted islets.

This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.

Join Here